Symphony No. 83 In G Minor "La Poule" / Symphony No. 84 In E Flat

Boston, Massachusetts

SIOI-d'TSH

Joseph HAYDN

Symphony no. 83 in G minor: “La Poule”

Symphony no. 54 in E flat

YMPHONY No. 83 is one of a set of six composed by
Joseph Haydn during the years 1785-6 for the Pari-
sian organization, Les Concerts de la Loge Olym-

| pique; the sextet is therefore known as the “Paris Sym-

phonies.” As a whole they contain the finest and most

elegant of the symphonies written between the Sturm —

und Drang period and the “Salomon Symphonies.” Ac-
tually this Symphony in G minor was misdated in the
chronological list prepared for the now defunct Gesam-
tausgabe (Complete Edition) of Haydn’s works by E.
Mandyczewski and published by the great German pub-
lishing house, Breitkopf and Haertel. The existence of

Haydn’s Autograph, in the Bibliothéque Nationale in

Paris, was not known at that time; the correct chrono-
logical number of the work is 8/a.

The original score of this symphony has recently been
completed for inclusion in the new COMPLETE EDITION
of Haydn’s works currently being issued by the Haydn
Society, where it will appear in Series I, Volume 9. The
differences between the long-accepted version and Haydn’s
original score are so considerable that one is reminded of
the question of Bruckner in the Urfassung. The main
differences lie not only in the phrasing but also in the
actual notes; for example the end of the exposition, as
well as the final coda of the first movement, was found
not to have the dotted rhythm of Haydn’s original score

but simply three quarter notes. The piquant figure for
solo oboe in the first movement was doubled by the flute

in all later printed editions, which destroys much of the
coloristic effect that Haydn intended. The Society has
performed these passages as called for in the Autograph.
Most important of all, the entire second movement (An-
dante) has been subjected to the most extraordinary falsi-
fications in later printed editions. A whole bar was omitted
in the dramatic pianissimo for the strings which comes
just before the dramatic entrance of the whole orchestra,
and the harmonic structure completely altered, removing
all of the harsh dissonances which some publisher must
have considered offending to the ears of his 18th century
public. Haydn’s original score is vastly more powerful
and effective. :

One of the interesting features of this work concerns
the alternating tonality both within as well as between
the four movements. The G minor opening turns into
G major at the end of the Allegro spiritoso. This would

seem to indicate a second movement based on a G major

rather than a G minor relationship, but Haydn has chosen
E flat major, which is not related closely either to G major
or G minor. The last two movements are both in G major.
This mixture is highly colorful. .

The sonata-form structure of the opening movement is,
surprisingly enough, fairly regular, inasmuch as the sec-
ond subject is neither derived from the first nor subdued
by it. The strong rhythmic opening theme is of a nature

which all Haydn lovers know immediately to be destined

for polyphonic-contrapuntal elaboration and, indeed, the
development section treats us to one of the neatest exam-
ples of motivische Arbeit found in any mature Haydn
symphony. Characteristic also is the dramatic pause be-
tween the various sections of this opening theme; both
Sir Donald Tovey and Cecil Gray have remarked that no

one is able to make such dramatic use of silence as Haydn.

The second movement with its unsettled fortissimo
outbursts and its general nervous atmosphere reminds us
of Haydn’s romantic Sturm und Drang years. The Menuet
has as its trio a strangely inconclusive thematic structure
which alternates between the tonic, sub-dominant and
the relative minor. The only really self-satisfied movement
is the Finale which is a straightforward gigue, such as
employed during the earlier part of the 18th century as
a finale to all suites. Perhaps this is a concession to the
French who were responsible for the Overture-Suite (Lully
etc.).

The title “La Poule,’ which was applied by the first
audience to hear this work outside of Eszterhaz, is an apt
description of the clucking oboe part, an integral feature
of the second subject of the opening movement.

The work is scored for 1 flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2
horns and strings.

Symphony No. 84 is the third of the Paris set. The
Autograph is at present in the music collection of a private
family in Switzerland; it is entitled: Sinfonia in Es, del
giuseppe Haydn, and the first and last pages contain the
familiar In Nomine Domini and Fine Laus Deo.

Some peculiar stylistic characteristics of this interim
period between the Storm and Stress years of 1768-1772
and the final decades of composition, 1788-1802, are notice-
able in this work. Generally speaking, musicologists are
agreed that the K.P.E. Bach influence upon Haydn,
which manifests itself about the year 1763 for the first
time, produced the most exciting years of Haydn’s creative

existence. At this point the composer renounced the —

sophisticated, somewhat shallow Italian influence that is
so marked in the early string quartets, symphonies and
divertimenti and instead began to infuse his music with
a curious, impressive and overpoweringly emotional in-
tensity that reaches its climax about 1772 (String Quartets
in G minor and F minor of Opus 20, Trauersymphonie) .
Even afterwards, this noble, masculine force continues to
pervade most of his compositions, his orchestral experi-
ments continue unabated, and his stature as ,a musician
continually broadens until the years 1780-81. Then he
met Mozart personally as well as musically, and the young
Salzburg composer exerted as strong an influence over
Haydn as the latter did over the former. However, where
Mozart only benefited, Haydn lost. The severe change
that took place in the older man was curiously deadening;
the violent drive of the young Haydn gives way to a
rather bloodless composer whom we have difficulty recog-
nizing as the same man who wrote the Symphonie La
Passione. The lovely slow movements, so full of warm

emotion, give way to prim allegretti such as are contained

in Symphonies 73, 78, 82, 85, etc. A self-satisfaction, ex-
pressed in the most rarified rococo accents, replaces the
grim, contrapuntal turmoil of earlier years, Mozartean
turns and suave, chromatic lines take the place of four-
square, abrupt, jolting transitions. Only in the masses
(cf. Mariazellermesse) did Haydn remain completely aloof
from this Mozartean influence. ’
The several years characterized by this stylistic meta-
morphosis are the least interesting in Haydn’s life, with

certain exceptions, of course. Traces of a change are found
in Symphony No. 77 and Symphony No. 80. The old
Haydn, forceful, dynamic, contrapuntal rather than har-
monic, full of depth rather than empty of emotion — the
Haydn we most admire — begins to return. Even the rel-
atively weak allegretto of Symphony No. 82 does not spoil
the wonderful strength of its outer movements. Symphony
No. 83 is almost wholly a return to normal, as mentioned
above. Finally, we find an entirely new Haydn, who has
survived this lapse and has digested Mozart’s influence;
this new Haydn style is exemplified in two of the finest
symphonies of all time, Nos. 86 and 88.

The Eighty-fourth Symphony is one of these transition
pieces between the first Mozart influence and the late
years. The opening Largo is one of the most beautiful
he ever wrote, serene, subtle and wonderfully majestic.
The harmonic pivot, so to speak, is the appogiatura (C
flat = B natural) at the beginning of the sixth measure
in the basses, resolving upwards. The winds take up the
subject alone at bar 10, followed by a magical entrance of
the first violin in the succeeding measure. The Allegro
consists of a merry first theme that refuses to give way
to a subsidiary subject and intrudes itself in the wood-
winds in the dominant just when a nice, self-respecting
second theme should have entered. In fact, aesthetically
speaking, there is no second subject at ali, and the passage
concluding the exposition is so episodic that any function
it might be said to perform as a subsidiary theme is purely
incidental and academic.

The Andante is a curiousiy incomplete emotional whole;
a spirit of profound inquietude is produced by placing
the main accents on the third and sixth beats of 6/8
(u-u-l-u-u-l). The movement is in the, composer's be-
loved variation form. The coda, or penultimate state-
ment of the subject, is exquisitely scored for solo winds
and pizzicato strings, the theme entering in imitation
with a harmonic background of never-resolving suspen-
sions.

The Menuet is as undistinguished as the trio is original;
the dynamic indications of the latter include fz strings
on the third beat immediately followed by piano; this
piano in the strings coincides with a forte whiplash in
the winds, making a picturesque orchestral effect which
Berlioz in his autobiography describes with élan as one
of his (Berlioz’s) better inventions.

The Finale, marked vivace, is one of Haydn’s self-
invented combinations of sonata and rondo form. The
first section leads into a dashing transition that winds
up on a short pedal point over F; staccato violins move
mysteriously downward into a pair of static bars — half
notes — which move into six sinister measures, the bassoon
creeping ominously into the middle voice. However, the
cloud vanishes abruptly, and a sunny F major passag
leads to the development and recapitulation. |

The musical text used for this recording was that found -

in Series I, Volume 9 of the Haydn COMPLETE EDI-
TION published by the Haydn Society. Size of the or-
chestra used was: eight first violins, eight second violins,
six violas, five violoncelli, four basses and the prescribed.
winds (one flute, two oboes, two bassoons and two horns)

The Haydn Society is also the Publisher of the first COMPLETE WORKS of Joseph Haydn.

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Anton Heiller, Con

HAYDN
Symphony No. 84 in E Flat (1786)
Band | - Largo-Allegro
Band If - Andante
Band lil - Menuetto

Band IV - Vivace

Recorded in Vienna
1960